Monday, March 22, 2010

LONDON – British Airways and the union representing its cabin crew were nocloser to resolving a dispute over pay and conditions Monday as a strikethat has grounded thousands of flights entered its third — and busiest —day.

Operations at the airline were put under more strain Monday than over theweekend as there are far more flights packed in to normal scheduling.

The airline said it operated 273, or 78 percent, of its long-haul flightsand 442, or 50 percent, of its short-haul flights over the first two daysof the strikes. It is yet to release details for Monday.

But it has warned effects of the walkout will be felt throughout thisweek, and workers are scheduled to strike again for four days, beginningSaturday, if the dispute is not resolved.

At Heathrow's Terminal 5, German couple Carolin and Stefan Marquardt had aseven-hour wait for their flight home to Stuttgart, after being forced tocut their vacation in India short because their original flight fromBangalore was canceled.

"I've been stressed by it all," said Carolin Marquardt. "It's not a verynice end to our vacation, we haven't had any sleep."

"I understand both sides of the disagreement, but it's bad for people likeus," she added.

The Unite union and BA have both claimed victory over the walkout that hascaused the airline to cancel over half its 1,950 flights normallyscheduled over the period.

BA reported that nearly 98 percent of staff reported for work at Gatwickand more than half showed up at Heathrow, allowing it to reinstate anumber of canceled flights.

However, Unite said that only 300 of its 2,200 cabin crew scheduled towork over the weekend turned up, and accused the airline of countinginbound crew to inflate the numbers of staff on duty.

BA stressed that it was legally obliged, as a listed company, to releaseaccurate figures.

The acrimonious dispute with its workers is expected to be financiallycrippling for BA — analysts forecast it could cost the airline more thanthe 63 million pounds ($95 million) that Chief Executive Willie Walsh istrying to save through the changes to workers' pay and conditions.

BA said Monday that it estimated the three-day strike would cost it around7 million pounds per day, less than the airline initially thought. Itdeclined to forecast the cost of the next walkout, but said that itsfull-year profit outlook was currently unchanged.

The airline is on track for a record loss this year after reporting anoperating loss of 86 million pounds for the first nine months, compared toa profit of 89 million pounds a year earlier.

The walkout is also bad news for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's LabourParty, which relies heavily on funding from the country's labor unions,and a gift for the main opposition Conservative Party, which is leadingopinion polls ahead of a general election due within weeks.

The Conservatives are seeking to evoke memories of the difficulties theLabour government had in the 1970s, culminating in the mass strikes thatbecame known as Britain's "winter of discontent" and led to the electionof Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in 1979.

Business group London First, whose members include many of London'sinternationally based businesses, warned on Monday that the capital'sreputation as a center for global trade was being damaged by the strike.

"Despite the best efforts of BA management and many staff to continue toput the interests of passengers first, the strike is reminiscent of abest-forgotten era," said London First Chief Executive Jo Valentine.

There was little sign of appeasement from either side on Monday as Unitejoint leader Tony Woodley told a rally of striking workers at a footballground near Heathrow to stand strong against BA's attempts to "blackmailand browbeat" them into accepting worse pay and conditions.

The airline on Friday offered a compromise on a proposed pay freeze thisyear, offering a 3 percent rise next year and the year after and then aninflation-linked increase in 2013/14 capped at 4 percent. The otherchanges include a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reductionin cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow.

Woodley said that BA was employing the "economics of the madhouse" byspending tens of millions on contingency plans for the walkout, includingleasing planes and crew from rival airlines.